If a company sponsors your work visa, for example NOVA, what happens if you end your contract early to go work another teaching job? I’m not familiar with how sponsored visas work and wanted to better understand before getting into it.
Once you have a visa no one can’t take it away. You have it till it runs out.
If it’s a job in the same visa category all you have to do is inform immigration of the job change and you’re done. Your visa doesn’t need to be changed.
If it’s a switch from for example teaching to IT you need to change your visa.
Quitting won’t affect your visa status so changing jobs is fine as long as the visa is still valid and the new job belongs to the same visa category.
Although in certain situations, quitting a job early may affect some conditions when applying for a new visa. For example, if you want to apply for a permanent residency visa, it’s recommended to wait at least 1 year after changing jobs.
Yeah, it’s not like Korea. If you quit, you don’t lose your visa. Your visa isn’t tied to your employer. That’s why I feel teaching in Japan is (slightly) better than teaching in Korea (even if the average savigns is a bit less)
if it’s a job that qualifies for the same visa (no category change) you still have to report it to immigration within 2 weeks.
You just need to fill out a form (available at counter D4 ,second floor of Shinagawa Immigration ) . This form is available online too. Send this and a copy of your visa　to Yotsuya
You are getting some good information, but not complete information.
**1. You must inform immigration of your change in employment**
When you quit your job, you have two weeks to inform immigration that you have left your employer. Failure to inform them within the two week window can result in a fine of Â¥200,000 and can be the cause for non-renewal of your visa. They won’t take your visa away for failing to inform them, but they can refuse to renew it.
When you get a new job, you have to inform immigration within two weeks of taking up your new position that you have a new job. Again, failure to inform immigration of your new employment withing the two week window can result in a fine of Â¥200,000 and can be the cause for non-renewal of your visa. They won’t take your visa away for failing to inform them, but they can refuse to renew it.
Now, if you start your new job within two weeks of leaving your first job, then you only need to make one declaration to immigration. If you leave your current job, and then take up a new position after two weeks, then you will need to make two declarations to immigration. Many people have been caught out because they informed immigration once, but not twice.
**2. You have 90 days to find a new job.**
If you quit without a new job lined up, you generally have 90 days to find and start a new position. If you cannot find a new job within 90 days, then immigration ***can begin*** the process of cancelling your visa and removing you from the country.
However, you should keep in mind a few things. First, the process is not automatic. At the 90 day mark an immigration inspector is not going to show up at your door and deport you. Second, that as long as you can prove, as in with documentation, that you have been job hunting, immigration usually will be flexible with the 90 day limit. They will give you more time. However, if the only thing you have done is look at job ads online, they will not consider that you are serious about find a job. You need to provide them with copies of applications, etc. Third, if you are offered a job within the 90 days and you turn it down, immigration can use that as evidence that you are not serious about finding a job and can begin the visa cancellation/removal process. Fourth, you need to not only find a job, but start working it. For example, if you quit now (in June) but your new job doesn’t start until April, immigration generally won’t allow you to just sit around not working for 10 months. Finally, most people are sincere about finding a job, and immigration has proven to reasonable and flexible. What they want to avoid is someone quitting a job and then taking a long vacation under the guise of ‘job hunting’.
**3. If you change industries, you might have to change your status, i.e. type of visa, and that process is not automatic and/or guaranteed.**
For example, if you are an ALT and are on an instructor visa and you get a new job in IT, you will need to switch to an Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services visa. You will have to apply for a change in status, and you will have to qualify for the new visa. Many people think that changing visa types is a loophole that they can use to get a visa that they otherwise are not qualified for. It isn’t. Just because you got a job, does not mean that you will get a visa.
**4. The time when most people get caught is when they apply to renew their visa.**
Immigration is too busy to follow-up with all three million foreign residents about who is doing what. It is completely possible to quit your job and not inform immigration. They won’t come looking for you. However, when you apply to renew your visa (technically extension of stay) they look very closely are your paperwork and if there are dependencies they will investigate them. This is when people get caught. For example, if the employer listed on the first visa is different than the employer listed for the renewal, and there isn’t a record of notification of a change of employment, immigration will ask you to explain yourself.
I have no firsthand experience with this, but according to a lawyer friend, in cases where someone has failed to inform them of a change of employer, and/or especially when someone has failed to apply for a change of status, immigration will generally ask them to pay the fine (unless there are some extenuating circumstances). If they are unable (or unwilling) to pay the fine, they often refuse the visa renewal effectively forcing a voluntary deportation at the end of residence period. If the person’s visa expired during the application process, then they will have overstayed their visa and can be arrested and officially deported.
7 comments
Once you have a visa no one can’t take it away. You have it till it runs out.
If it’s a job in the same visa category all you have to do is inform immigration of the job change and you’re done. Your visa doesn’t need to be changed.
If it’s a switch from for example teaching to IT you need to change your visa.
Quitting won’t affect your visa status so changing jobs is fine as long as the visa is still valid and the new job belongs to the same visa category.
Although in certain situations, quitting a job early may affect some conditions when applying for a new visa. For example, if you want to apply for a permanent residency visa, it’s recommended to wait at least 1 year after changing jobs.
Yeah, it’s not like Korea. If you quit, you don’t lose your visa. Your visa isn’t tied to your employer. That’s why I feel teaching in Japan is (slightly) better than teaching in Korea (even if the average savigns is a bit less)
if it’s a job that qualifies for the same visa (no category change) you still have to report it to immigration within 2 weeks.
You just need to fill out a form (available at counter D4 ,second floor of Shinagawa Immigration ) . This form is available online too. Send this and a copy of your visa　to Yotsuya
https://obi-visa.com/change_jobs/
Source : I did this yesterday.
You are getting some good information, but not complete information.
**1. You must inform immigration of your change in employment**
When you quit your job, you have two weeks to inform immigration that you have left your employer. Failure to inform them within the two week window can result in a fine of Â¥200,000 and can be the cause for non-renewal of your visa. They won’t take your visa away for failing to inform them, but they can refuse to renew it.
When you get a new job, you have to inform immigration within two weeks of taking up your new position that you have a new job. Again, failure to inform immigration of your new employment withing the two week window can result in a fine of Â¥200,000 and can be the cause for non-renewal of your visa. They won’t take your visa away for failing to inform them, but they can refuse to renew it.
Now, if you start your new job within two weeks of leaving your first job, then you only need to make one declaration to immigration. If you leave your current job, and then take up a new position after two weeks, then you will need to make two declarations to immigration. Many people have been caught out because they informed immigration once, but not twice.
**2. You have 90 days to find a new job.**
If you quit without a new job lined up, you generally have 90 days to find and start a new position. If you cannot find a new job within 90 days, then immigration ***can begin*** the process of cancelling your visa and removing you from the country.
However, you should keep in mind a few things. First, the process is not automatic. At the 90 day mark an immigration inspector is not going to show up at your door and deport you. Second, that as long as you can prove, as in with documentation, that you have been job hunting, immigration usually will be flexible with the 90 day limit. They will give you more time. However, if the only thing you have done is look at job ads online, they will not consider that you are serious about find a job. You need to provide them with copies of applications, etc. Third, if you are offered a job within the 90 days and you turn it down, immigration can use that as evidence that you are not serious about finding a job and can begin the visa cancellation/removal process. Fourth, you need to not only find a job, but start working it. For example, if you quit now (in June) but your new job doesn’t start until April, immigration generally won’t allow you to just sit around not working for 10 months. Finally, most people are sincere about finding a job, and immigration has proven to reasonable and flexible. What they want to avoid is someone quitting a job and then taking a long vacation under the guise of ‘job hunting’.
**3. If you change industries, you might have to change your status, i.e. type of visa, and that process is not automatic and/or guaranteed.**
For example, if you are an ALT and are on an instructor visa and you get a new job in IT, you will need to switch to an Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services visa. You will have to apply for a change in status, and you will have to qualify for the new visa. Many people think that changing visa types is a loophole that they can use to get a visa that they otherwise are not qualified for. It isn’t. Just because you got a job, does not mean that you will get a visa.
**4. The time when most people get caught is when they apply to renew their visa.**
Immigration is too busy to follow-up with all three million foreign residents about who is doing what. It is completely possible to quit your job and not inform immigration. They won’t come looking for you. However, when you apply to renew your visa (technically extension of stay) they look very closely are your paperwork and if there are dependencies they will investigate them. This is when people get caught. For example, if the employer listed on the first visa is different than the employer listed for the renewal, and there isn’t a record of notification of a change of employment, immigration will ask you to explain yourself.
I have no firsthand experience with this, but according to a lawyer friend, in cases where someone has failed to inform them of a change of employer, and/or especially when someone has failed to apply for a change of status, immigration will generally ask them to pay the fine (unless there are some extenuating circumstances). If they are unable (or unwilling) to pay the fine, they often refuse the visa renewal effectively forcing a voluntary deportation at the end of residence period. If the person’s visa expired during the application process, then they will have overstayed their visa and can be arrested and officially deported.